Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Amazing Zelazny - A to Z Blogging Challenge Over!

So, I didn't really complete the blogging challenge. I missed the last three letters, because I tried to take too much on and didn't get everything finished. My daughter's birthday and party was this weekend, and that comes before blogging. I thought I could get everything done, but I couldn't. Instead, I focused on what was more important to get done. I've been beating myself up a bit about this over the weekend, but now it's the last day of April, and I had a plan for Z, I should at least make the last post of the challenge! Enough self-pity.

Roger Zelaznywas an amazing author of fantasy and science fiction novels. He gave us the Chronicles of Amber, a series of ten novels set in a world much like our own, but very different as well. Amber is considered his magnum opus, but it was not all he wrote. However, it is the only work of his I have read!

When I first started talking to my now husband online (yes, I'm an example of online romance success, through role playing games!), he was playing a character from an Amber role playing game. I was just an elf woman I had made up, generic fantasy, but he brought me into his story, and eventually I read the books, and love them as much as he does.

There are ten books in the series, the first five feature the character Corwin, a Prince of Amber. He's a member of a royal family of powerful near-immortal people, who can write reality to their liking - or rather, Shadow. He is arrogant to a fault, but still a likeable character as he travels from our Earth to Amber, following his own agenda even when it conflicts with his brothers' or sisters'.

The second half of the series, the last five books, feature Merlin (not Arthur's wizard), the son of Corwin, and his adventures. He's younger and a little less arrogant than his father, but truly his son in more than blood. His journeys take him to places different than his father's at points, showing another side to the story.

The books are wonderful, and leave you aching for more. But there's good news! There is a role playing game based on the series, as I mentioned before. And it's available in PDF form at Drive-Thru RPG: Amber Diceless Role Playing Game We've only played the game between the two of us, it's a hard game to get into if you haven't read the books - at least Corwin's five. It was one of the first systems my husband played in though, as a young teenager, and he has fond memories of it.

Zelazny truly had a great mind, to write such wondrous stories and tales. His books are worth looking into, if your reading list isn't too long already!

Now that April is over, I will no longer be posting six days a week, since that took a little too much out of me. Being new to blogging, it takes me quite a while to put together a post, so I'm going to spread them out a bit. I'm thinking maybe three a week: Sunday, Wednesday, Friday if I can. Not tomorrow Wednesday though, ha.

I do hope you enjoyed the A to Z Blogging Challenge, and reading the days I did make it! What was your favorite post of the month? And what were some of your favorite new blogs you found through the challenge? Share in the comments, and please come back again for my normal posts!